Mashed potato, sausage gravy



















     Where did this come from?

The sausage shown way up there ↑ earlier was pushed out of its casing and gently fried in tiny pieces. 

Garlic is added.
Butter.
Spices are heated, this amounts to quite a lot of cumin, cilantro, turmeric, hot chile peppers, salt and pepper, asafetida, War cester shire sauce sire and liquid smoke.

     What is asafetida?

Oh Lord. 

     What?

Asafetida is a resin from a plant that smells like crap. Sometimes called devil's dung to give you an idea. The resin is dried and turned into powder. This is not a popular spice outside of India, grown in Iran, has several names across the area, and it has the word "fetid" in its name. It is used as a medicine. 

Cooks say it has a wonderful onion/garlic flavor and you must hasten to try it.

There is some scientific evidence that chemicals in asafetida could help treat irritable bowel syndrome, and might protect against high blood levels of damaging fats. It can thin the blood.

     But does asafetida get you high?

No.





1 comment:

ColoradoJim said...

I have never had asafetida but it is used as a substitute for the extinct Silphium herb that was highly prized In the ancient world. So much so that they even minted coins showing the plant. The YouTube channel TastingHistory has an episode on Parthian Chicken from Ancient Rome which features asafoetida with a bit of history on the background.

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